Luggage



March 23, 1954 c w, KE|R5EY 2,672,962

LUGGAGE Filed 00;- 4, 1949 ZNVEVTOR.

CHARLES w. KEIRSEY Patented Mar. 23, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUGGAGE Charles W. Keirsey, Ponca City, Okla. Application October 4, 1949, Serial No. 119,483 1 Claim. (o1. 190 43) The present invention relates to improvements in luggage, particularly valises, suitcases and the like adapted to be carried by hand and involves a novel design wherein clothing and accessories may be'conveniently and compactly arranged to render the same readily accessible and without the usual inconvenience experienced in the use of luggage of this kind. The usual top opening bag necessitates the disturbance of all articles on top before the bottom packed articles can be removed. An important object of the present invention is to so design the bag as to allow the articles to be removed at any point in the bag without disarranging the layer above said articles.

A further objection to the usual hand bag of the top opening type is the usual provision of gussets at the side of the bag which are provided in order that the top be fully opened. This not only reduces the capacity of the bag but also causes disarrangement of the top layers because of contact with the gussets.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an all leather bag formed of relatively few parts, which is attractive in appearance and economical to manufacture. A specific feature of the invention is the arrangement whereby the material of the bag, preferably of leather, forms the hinge about which the closure opens.

A further featur of the present invention is to provide a hand bag, characterized by a, substantially rigid bottom wall and an otherwise pliable bag body together with reinforcing means to maintain the shape of the body and to facilitate an even distribution of the stresses-exerted by a handle connected to the body for carrying the bag.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the disclosure of the specification proceeds.

With the foresaid objects in view, invention resides in the novel arrangement of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the subjoined claim, and illustrated in the annexed drawing, wherein lik parts are designated by the same characters throughout the several views.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved valise in fully closed position.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the valise in an open position.

Referrin in detail to the drawing, the bag indicated generally by the numeral I is in the form of a top opening bag of the type which tapers slightly toward its upper end. The bag comprises a pair of end walls ll, l2 suitably joined to a single strip of material forming the major part of the bag. The end walls are formed of two sections l3 and I4 divided by a curved line of division l5. The major portion of the bag consists of a bottom section l6, a rear wall terminating in a top portion I1, a short front section [8 and a cover section I9.

It will be noted that the larger end wall section I3 is stitched or otherwise suitably secured to the sections I6, I l and I8, whereas the smaller end wall section I4 is secured to the cover section 19. As seen in Figure 2, a zipper strip 20 is attached along the top edge of the bag and the curved edges of the end sections I 3, with the ends of the strip terminating at the hinge line for the cover section. A similar zipper strip 2| is attached to the top edge of the cover section, the curved edges of end wall sections I4 with its ends also terminating at the hinge line.

A pair of conventional zipper slides 22 are provided for opening and closing the bag. In the closed position of the bag the sliders are dway of the top of the bag as seen in Figure 1 for a purpose to be described. Strap members 23 are attached to the sliders 22 for ready manipulation thereof.

A pair of strap members 24 and 25 extend completely around the body of the bag and are stitched to the bag to form a, firm support for the handles 26 and 21 formed at the ends of said straps. Any suitable lockin mechanism 28 may be used for locking the bag. One of the elements of the locking mechanism comprises a wide strip 29 which serves to overlap the sliders 22 when the bag is closed thereby insuring against ingress of dirt or Water into the interior of the bag. Suitable rivets 30 Or the like may be secured to the bottom adjacent the corners of the bag to support the bottom off the ground.

The material from which the bag is made is preferably leather but any equivalent material such as composition leather or textile fabric could be used. If desired, reinforcing boards can be incorporated in the bottom and side panels although such reinforcement is unnecessary when using a heavy leather such as cowhide. It will be understood that a suitable lining for the interior of the bag can be provided.

The manner of using the present invention will now be briefly described. By opening the slide fasteners, the cover section assumes the position shown in Figure 2. Miscellaneous articles can now be packed to the very top or the full capacity of the bag. It is usual when packing a bag, to place the kit at the bottom of the bag. When it is desired to remove the kit or any article from the bag, it is only necessary to insert the hand at any layer of clothing above the article to be removed, raise the upper layers and remove the article without disarranging the remaining articles.

Thus, it will be seen that the present invention is well adapted to accomplish the objects and advantages set forth. It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may be made in the device shown in the drawing, and that the same is submitted in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the invention being defined in the following claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

A hand bag formed of leather or the like comprising a bottom wall, side and top Walls forming a continuation of said bottom wall, end walls rconmtcted to said bottom, side. and top walls, ssaid endwalls being fiat and of substantially rigid material, eachof said end walls being separatedxinto two unequal sectionsalo-ng a line ex- ;itending downwardly and laterally from the top of :the ;corresponding end wall adjacent one side :wallrtoL the opposite side wall ata point slightly above the bottom wall, the upper portion of the second side wall together with the separated portions of the end walls and a portion of the top Wall being pivotable along a hinge line extending between the aforesaid points and forming a cover for the bag, detachable fastening means between the cover and the bag, and handle means adjacent the: top of the bag for carrying same.

CHARLES W. KEIRSEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 792,183 ,Tiderman June 13, 1905 1,193,809 Maul: Aug. 8, 1916 --2,316,716 R-ies Apr. 13, 1943 -;2,324,436 Snyder July 13, 1943 2,337,860 Zeitenberg Dec. 28, 1943 2,425,035 ,Garnett et al. 1 Aug. 5, 1947 v2,429,856 Vasquez Oct.;28, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country D te 123,917 Australia Apr. 17, 1947 592,321 Great Britain Sept. 15, 1947 

